Apparatus for the continuous treatment of thick,voluminous textile materials



1970 H. FLEISSNER ,546,901

APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS TREATMENT OF THICK, VOLUMINOUS TEXTILEMATERIALS Filed Nov. 9, 1967 Inventor:

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United States Patent f 3,546,901 APPARATUS FOR THE CONTINUOUS TREATMENTOF THICK, VOLUMINOUS TEXTILE MATERIALS Heinz Fleissner, Egelsbach, nearFrankfurt am Main, Germany, assignor to Vepa AG, Basel, SwitzerlandContinuation-impart of application Ser. No. 662,084, Aug. 21, 1967. Thisapplication Nov. 9, 1967, Ser. No. 681,616 Claims priority, applicationGermany, Nov. 6, 1966,

Int. Cl. D06f 31/00, 39/04 US. Cl. 685 27 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for theselective treatment of thick, voluminous textile materials such asneedled felts or tufteds, and the like, made, for example, of wool,polyamides and polyacrylonitrile fibers. More particularly, the presentdisclosure is directed to an apparatus for dyeing or printing largewidths of needled felts or tufteds which comprises a means forselectively impregnating needled felts of tufteds with dyestoutfs andauxiliary agents, a steaming chamber for dyestutf fixation including aheating-up zone containing at least one sieve drum subjected to asuction draft, a washing means, a final dryer containing at least onesieve drum subjected to a suction draft and a drive and control meanswhich provides for joint speed variation of all of the units and speedvariation between the individual units.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This is a continuation-in-part ofapplication Ser. No. 662,084, filed Aug. 21, 1967.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for the continuoustreatment, especially dyeing and/ or printing of thick voluminoustextile materials of large widths, preferably tufted carpets, plushesand needled felts. These textiles can be made from natural and syntheticfibers such as wool, polyamides and polyacrylonitrile fibers. Accordingto the present invention the needled felts, tufteds, and the like areselectively impregnated with dyestuffs and auxiliary agents and thenpassed continuously through several individual units, that is through asteamer, a washing device and a dryer.

In application Ser. No. 662,084, a process and apparatus for thecontinuous dyeing or printing of thick voluminous textile materials suchas tufted carpets and needled felt carpets is described. Comprehensivetests using tufted carpets and needled felt carpets have shown that inorder to obtain the desired dyeing or printing results with thesecarpets the impregnating and/or printing device is of particularimportance. Advantageously, the liquor absorption should be as small aspossible in order to ensure maximum economy. When treating needled feltcarpets, a good squeezing effect can be obtained in the dyeing padder ifthe rollers are relatively hard. The squeeze rollers for needled feltshould have a Shore hardness of about 7580 to achieve a favorable squeezing effect. However, if hard rollers are used when treating tuftedcarpets there is the danger that the pile will be compressed andsubsequently fixed in the steamer. With tufted carpets much betterresults are obtained if the padder is provided with relatively large,soft rollers with a Shore hardness of about 20 and or if the sqceezerollers are provided with a soft, rubber coating. Thus it can be seenthat the requirements for treating, that is for dyeing and/or printingtufted carpets and needled felt carpets are inconsistent with eachother. In the past, if a padder with relatively hard rollers is used,when 3,546,901 Patented Dec. 15, 1970 treating tufted carpets care hasto be taken not to compress the pile of the carpets by squeezing toomuch. This creates the results that the carpets are fed to the steamerwith a high moisture content thus incorporating into the process thesubstantial disadvantages of higher chemical costs and higher steamconsumption in the steamer. On the other hand, if a padder with softrollers is used, the liquor quantity absorbed when treating needled feltcarpets is also quite high and thus the disadvantages of costs ofchemicals and steam consumption are again present.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to avoidthe prior art disadvantages in the treatment of materials, for examplethe dyeing or printing of thick, voluminous textile materials, such astufteds and needled felt materials.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedapparatus for continuously dyeing and/or printing tufted carpets ormaterials with a relatively long and soft pile as well as needled feltcarpets with a maximum economy, that is with a minimum consumption ofchemicals and energy.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improvedapparatus for the continuous treatment of thick, voluminous textilematerials wherein means are provided for selectively impregnating thetextile materials depending upon the particular material to be treated.

Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present inventonwill become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter; itshould be understood, however, that the detailed description andspecific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of theinvention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changesand modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from this detaileddescription.

In accordance with the present invention it has been found thatcompromise of an impregnating or printing device suitable for tuftedsand needled felt materials results in a product of inferior quality ofboth material types as well as a loss of economy. Therefore, such acompromise for impregnating both tufted and needled felt materialsshould be avoided. According to the present invention it is suggested toprovide at the beginning of the treatment apparatus, that is in front ofthe steamer, one impregnating or printing device for tufteds and oneimpregnating or printing device for needled felts. Conveying elementsare associated with both of the impregnating devices to render itpossible to by-pass either one of the impregnating devices by passingthe material being treated either above or below one of said devicesbefore said material is introduced into the steamer. In this way it ispossible to use either a padder or a printing device designed for thetreatment of tufteds or a padder or printing device designed for thetreatment of needled felts. Thus, depending on which material is beingtreated, one or the other impregnating or printing device is used. Forboth material types, the same steamer, wash bowls and dryer areu sed.According to the present invention it is possible to improve the qualityof tufteds as well as needled felt materials.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, it is alsopossible to provide only one impregnating or printing device which isprovided with two squeeze heads, one of which is suitable for treatingtufteds and the other one being suitable for treating needled felts.Depending on the particular material being treated, one or the othersqueeze head is used. The material being treated may be either passedthrough the two squeeze heads, in which case the pressure is applied 3to only one of these squeeze heads, or one of the squeeze heads may beby-passed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will become morefully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and theaccompanying drawing which are given by way of illustration only andthus are not limitative of the present invention and wherein:

The drawing shows a longitudinal section of the apparatus of the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawingwherein like reference numerals are used throughout the drawing todesignate like parts, the apparatus of the present invention comprises apadder 1 provided for impregnating needled felt materials. This padderhas relatively small, hard squeeze rollers 2 with a Shore hardness ofabout 75-80 and a roller diameter of about 20-25 cm. Another padder 3which is provided with relatively large, soft squeeze rollers 4 isassociated with padder 1 for the treatment of tufted carpets and plushmaterials. Both padders are provided with rolls 5 which render itpossible to pass the material length to be treated over the padder notbeing used and therefore not through the padder. A steamer 6 is providedwith a sieve drum 7 subjected to a suction draft and with driven rollers8 over which the material is passed in loops. That portion of thesteamer containing the sieve drum 7 is known as the heating-up zonewhereas that portion containing the rollers 8 is known as the dwellzone. At the inlet of the steamer a heated roller 9 with an exhaust box10 is provided and at the discharge end of the steamer a water lock 11is located. The exhaust box extends over the working width of thematerial and is provided with heat suction lips 19 which define suctionslits for removing the air contained in the material. At least one steamnozzle means 20 is provided between the heated lips for blowing a steambarrier against the material. These elements ensure an air-freeatmosphere in the steamer. Behind the steamer suction drum bowls 12 withappertaining squeezer 13 are arranged. A following sieve drum dryer 14is only used for drying need-led felt materials. When handling tuftedcarpets the dryer is bypassed by means of a roller conveyor 15. Forbonding the needled felts and/or for the application of the bondingagents solution another padder 16 is used. Drying and curing is effectedin a sieve drum dryer 17 with a giant drum 18. The sense of rotation ofthe giant drum 18 can be changed. Thus it is possible to dry needledfelt carpets with their upper side resting on the sieve drum and toachieve a reduction of the bonding agent concentration at the upperside, and to dry tufted carpets with their underside resting on thesieve drum so that the pile is not compressed in the hot atmosphere. Thesame applies to printing, Also with printing a suitable squeezing of thematerial is of decisive importance.

A tenter zone comprising a roller conveyor 22 between the tenter chains21 is provided for conveying the material to the second dryer means atthe level of the drum shaft. Conveying elements 23 are arranged in thesecond dryer means near the housing above and behind the sieve drummeans, said elements providing a curing passage for the material beingtreated. Conveying elements 24 are also arranged in the second drumdryer means near the bottom of the housing underneath the sieve drum. Atthe point where the material is discharged from the sieve drum, twoaxially adjustable needle disks 25 are provided for the bilateralholding and deflection of the textile material being treated. Finally,'bafile means 26 are provided inside the sieve drum of the second dryermeans between the point. where the needled felt is discharged 4 from thesieve drum and the point where tufted carpet is discharged from thesieve drum.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same maybe varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as adeparture from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all suchmodifications are intended to be included within the scope of thefollowing claims.

It is claimed:

1. An apparatus for continuously dyeing or printing large widths ofthick voluminous needled felts or tufteds which comprises, incombination, a means for selectively impregnating needled felts ortufteds with dyestuffs and auxiliary agents, a steaming chamber fordyestuff fixation containing a heating-up zone containing at least onesieve drum subjected to a suction draft and a dwell zone, and a washingmeans, a final dryer containing at least one sieve drum subjected to asuction draft.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for selectivelyimpregnating needled felts or tufteds comprises a first and secondpadder means, said first padder means provided with hard squeeze rollersfor squeezing needled felts after impregnation and said second paddermeans provided with soft squeeze rollers for squeezing tufteds afterimpregnation.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein by-pass means are associated withthe first and second padder means for selectively by-passing either saidfirst or said second padder means.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for selectivelyimpregnating needled felts or tufteds comprises a padder meanscontaining hard and soft squeeze rollers, said hard squeeze rollersbeing suitable for squeezing needled felts and said soft squeeze rollersbeing suitable for squeezing tufteds, said padder means also containingmeans for selectively by-passing either the hard squeeze rollers or thesoft squeeze rollers depending upon which material is being processed.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein additional dryer means and paddermeans are provided after the washing means and before the final dryermeans, said additional dryer means and padder means also beingassociated with the drive and control means.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein by-pass means are provided forby-passing the additional dryer and padder means, and said sieve drum inthe final dryer means is capable of reversible rotation.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the steaming chamber is providedwith a sump means for the generation of steam and the dwell zonecontains drive rollers for unilaterally guiding the material in loopstherethrough.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the dwell zone contains a pluralityof driven rollers over which the material is passed in loops.

9. An apparatus for continuosly dyeing or printing large widths of thickvoluminous needled felts or tufteds which comprises, in combination animpregnating means consisting of first and second padder means, saidfirst padder means provided with hard squeeze rollers for squeezingneedled felts after impregnation and said second padder means providedwith soft squeeze rollers for squeezing tufteds after impregnation, asteaming chamber for dyestulf fixation containing a heating-up zoneand adwell zone, said heating-up zone containing at least one sieve drumsubjected to a suction draft, at least one sieve drum wash bowl means, afirst dryer means containing at least one sieve drum means subjected toa suction draft, a second padder means and a second dryer containing atleast one sieve drum subjected to a suction draft, said sieve drum beingcapable 2f reversible rotation.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the hard squeeze rollers arerelatively small and have a Shore hardness of about 8'0.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the soft squeeze rollers arerelatively large and have a Shore hardness of about 20.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the soft squeeze rollers aresqueeze rollers provided with a rubber coating.

13. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein by-pass means are associated withthe first and second padder means for selectively by-passing either saidfirst or said second padder means.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein by-pass means are; provided forby-passing the first dryer means and the second padder means.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the by-pass means is a rollerconveyor.

16. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein exhaust means are provided at theinlet of the heating-up zone of the steaming chamber, said exhaust meansbeing associated with heated roller means which conveys the materialinto the heating-up zone.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the exhaust means extends overthe working width of the material and is provided 'with heated suctionlips which define suction slits for removing the air contained in thematerial.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein at least one steam nozzle meansis provided between the heated lips for blowing a steam barrier againstthe material.

19. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein a heating means is associated'with the fan of the sieve drum in the steaming chamber for superheatingthe saturated steam generated in the sump.

20. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein a tenter zone comprising a rollerconveyor between the tenter chains is provided for conveying thematerial to the second dryer means at the level of the drum shaft.

21. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the dwell zone contains driverollers for unilateral guidance of the material being treated.

22. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the dwell zone 6 contains guidancemeans comprising at least one sieve drum subjected to a suction draft.

23. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein squeezer means are correlated toeach sieve drum wash bowl.

24. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein conveying elements are arranged inthe second dryer means, near the housing above and behind the sieve drummeans, said elements providing a curing passage for the material beingtreated.

25. The apparatus of claim 9, in which conveying elements are arrangedin the second dryer means, near the bottom of the housing underneath thesieve drum wherein at the point where the material is discharged fromthe sieve drum two axially adjustable needle disks are provided for thebilateral holding and deflection of the textile material being treated.

26. The apparatus of claim 9, adapted to treat both needled felt andtufted carpets wherein baflle means are provided inside the sieve drumof the second dryer means between the point where needled felt isdischarged from the sieve drum and the point where tufted carpet isdischarged from the sieve drum.

27. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the means for selectivelyimpregnating needled felts or tufteds comprises a first and secondprinting means, said first printing means provided with hard squeezerollers for squeezing needled felts after impregnation and said secondprinting means provided with soft squeeze rollers for squeezing tuftedsafter impregnation.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,199,233 4/1940 Williams 8151X2,367,730 1/ 1945 Masland 2d 815-1X 2,417,916 3/1947 Dow '8151X2,785,042 3/1957 Grajeck et a1. 68-5X WILLIAM I. PRICE, Primary ExaminerU.S. Cl. X.R. 68-l 9.1

